Ethics of keeping children safe on social networking sites

Tweet

How far would you go to keep your children safe on sites like bebo and Youtube? Do ethics come into it or is all fair when it comes to protecting our children? Would you ever, like me, sign up on bebo and pose as someone else to find out how your daughter would respond to an approach from a stranger? Is that ethical or not? Would you do the same or never do such a thing? In my case, I only kept up the subterfuge a short while, finaly revealing myself with the message "You need to be careful who you befriend online, piglet (my pet name for her), you never know who they actually are, they could even BE YOUR DAD! Spooky". All was well, she thought it was funny and I was reassured that she wasn't going to send photos or get drawn in to improper conversations, but I realise some kids would really react to such an act. So what would you do? Is it just too outrageous? I think the internet is a dangerous place but would rather educate my kids to its dangers than try to exclude them from it. What is your limit?